An exhibition examines the concept of self through photography and visual art, writes Kerry-Ann Augustin
Last year, on a cool November night, Sharmin Parameswaran had sat down at a cafe for a casual, quiet dinner when she suddenly shifted her gaze towards a bunch of girls seated at a table nearby.
The group of friends huddled together around a smartphone with set poses and ready smiles. It was a common sight, but for Sharmin, it triggered questions very few have asked themselves — why do we take selfies?
A visual arts curator at Interpr8 Art Space, Sharmin felt compelled to explore the narrative of “self” in the 21st century through the artistic elements of photography.
“I’ve curated a few exhibitions but I wanted to collaborate with someone who really understood photography,” says Sharmin, who sought out Obscura Festival founder Vignes Balasingam. “Vignes was crazy enough to say yes!” she sniggers.
The collaboration conceived Person(a), an exhibition which displays the works of 20 Malaysian photographers and visual artists who turn the cultural phenomenon of selfies into an introspective exploration of the self.
HASHTAG SELFIE
The term “selfie” may be relatively new, but the act of taking photos or creating images of one’s self has been around for centuries. “Before the camera and the camera phone, there were painted self-portraits,” Sharmin explains. “And self-portraits have turned into selfies. It’s a persona that you see in images,” she adds.
Throughout the Middle Ages, it was common for noblemen and royals to have elaborate painted portraits of themselves occupying large spaces on wide walls and long corridors.
In her essay Beyond The Bubble: Are Selfies Art? Andrea Nease of the Darthmouth Newspaper cites examples of how portraits of the time were linked to the formation of a persona.
“Kings and queens paid skilled painters hefty sums in hopes of achieving a flattering portrait which would then serve as their filtered self-representation.”
The concept of self was explored on an even bigger scale when the affordable camera made its debut in the 1800s; you could now construct your identity in a photo by taking a picture in front of a mirror without the help of someone else.
In the last 15 years, the steady rise of technologically advance cameras in mobile devices accompanied by the advent of social media has created a powerful synergy which has transformed our cultural landscape. According to surveys by Google last year, a whooping 93 million selfies are taken every day, which are then posted over a range of social media sites.
“When I was growing up, we used film in our cameras,” says Sharmin recalling her upbringing in the 1980s and ‘90s. “If you had a roll of film, you get only a few chances of getting the right shots.” she adds, drawing the comparison to digital photography of this era.
“There was more of a deliberation of what you were going to shoot. You couldn’t afford to simply click, check the photo, delete it and take another one again. You’d have a thought process. And Person(a) is really about that process,” she says.
THROUGH THE LENSES
“I think the most interesting thing about Person(a) is that I was able to work with each artist closely in conceptualising work and bringing it to its final form,” Vignes admits. “The artists had naturally begin to think in abstract terms when asked to ‘turn the camera onto themselves’ and they had come up with some really amazing ideas.”
Sharmin concurs, adding with a grin: “We are all very comfortable talking about others, but not about ourselves.”
Over the last eight months, the curators saw works of art evolve on a daily basis. Described as 50 per cent photography and the other half art installation and mixed media, Person(a) encouraged artists to question their own identity, shaped by their social, political, geographical and technological state.
“My role was to help them expand on their thoughts and ideas by posing questions about their approaches, just diving deep into discussions on the idea of the self, a philosophical ramble investigating methods of exhibiting and theories of photography,” says Vignes. “For many of the participating artists, they have forced themselves to sometimes go into the mental and emotional spaces which they’d usually not visit.”
Even before the collaboration, Vignes had already been studying the art of selfie, which intrigued him as a photographer who curated shows and gave talks on self-portraits.
“When Sharmin approached me, I spoke to her about the work I’ve been doing, research, projects as well as my personal philosophy about the selfie, and proposed to her the framework for what would become the Person(a) show.” A title, Vignes says, which was inspired by philosopher Allan Watts.
LOOKING AT YOU LOOKING AT ME
In The Allure of the Selfie: Instagram and the New Self Portrait, author Brooke Wendt examines how a person’s identity is constructed via the selfie and filters on social media photo apps.
“We produce a never-ending cycle of selfies with different looks and hashtags,” writes Wendt. “We lose ourselves inside a programme of possibilities and do not realise that it alters our self-awareness as we capture, edit and share selfies from our mobile devices.”
“Taking a selfie now is less and less about memory and more about broadcasting,” Sharmin observes. “The irony is that social media has made us lonelier,” she adds, explaining how we have come to seek validation through how many ‘Likes’ we receive on social media sites.
But it is the multiple layering of personas that Sharmin finds most fascinating. “It only hit me a few days ago while setting up the show that the persona can be viewed in three dimensions,” she says excitedly.
“When you take a photo of yourself and upload it onto social media there are three ways of seeing it: What I see (as the person taking the selfie), what others see and how I perceive others see me.”
THE RIGHT STUFF
Participating artists include Chris Chong Chan Fui, Hoo Fan Chon, J. Redza, kG. Krishnan, Minstrel Kuik, Nadia J. Mahfix, Saubin Yap, Sharon Chin and Sherman Ong.
It also features renowned visual artist Diana Lui, and fresh faces like Okui Lala, who were handpicked by the curators who had worked with them before on other projects.
“We wanted artists who could look at themselves in an introspective manner. Not everyone dares go down that route,” Sharmin shares.
Both Sharmin and Vignes confide that the process of curating the exhibition has been a long but rewarding one.
“I hope that people coming to the show will start to look at the power they have in their hands to tell a story,” says Vignes.
“But also to use that power to relook at themselves and the world they live in. This is ultimately the goal of the project.”
---------------------------------------------------------
Person(a)
when: Until Nov 8
where: Black Box, MAP Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur
---------------------------------------------------------